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Posts Tagged ‘Dogfish Head’

Well, this is going to be my 150th beer blog. As many of you who’ve been reading since I’ve started this blog have probably noticed, I’ve slowed down. I’ve been a slacker, I have a bunch of beers in my basement so I don’t even have the excuse of “I’m out of beer to blog”. Anyways, I’m going to get back into the grove and blog about beer.

For my 150th blog I’ve chosen Dogfish Head Breweries Chateau Jiahu. This ancient brew was originally made 9,000 years ago in Northern China. The beer was preserved in pottery jars to be later broken down and analyzed by Molecular Archeologist Dr. Patrick McGovern. Keeping with historical evidence Dogfish used brown rice syrup, orange blossom honey, muscat grapes, barley malt, and hawthorn berries. They even used a yeast strain that is normally used in Sake.

Pouring a hazy orange, this ancient brew had one finger of thick white head. The head dissipated quickly, but left a ring around the edge of the glass. The aroma flows from the glass thick with honey and grapes. Subtle notes of spices are also prickling my nose. The taste is very unique. Honey and grapes remain dominant but there are other fruit flavors hinting at my taste buds. I believe I’m tasting mangos, kiwis and possibly pear. Very light to drink and not overly powerful or sweet. The flavor leaves the palate extremely quickly. For all the ancient style beers I’ve tried, this one takes the cake.

One brewery I’ve noticed I haven’t given proper attention too has been Dogfish Head. They brew many ancient ale recipes, some of which I’ve been fortunate enough to try. The one I am bringing to you today is their Midas Touch. The beer held within this bottle and glass is actually the oldest-known fermented beverage found to date. This brew was discovered in 2700 year old vessels in the tomb of King Midas, the ancient Turkish leader. The beer is actually more of a blend of wine and mead. Made with honey, barley, white muscat grapes, and saffron. Pouring with a hefty 9% alcohol this beer pack a sweetly, hearty punch.

This ancient ale pours out golden-yellow in color with this head. Another thing to note is the continues stream of bubble floating up throughout the entire glass. There also appears to be sediment floating amongst the bubbles, but it is difficult to tell. The aroma is enticing with honey, barley, apricot and spices. The spice is probably saffron, which I haven’t had much exposure to. The flavor is excessively sweet, even sweeter then I remembered. The initial taste is a kick to the chest of sweet honey and the saffron spice. As the sweetness fades the flavor of grapes emerge along with a heavy bread feel and taste. As that dissipates and the flavor ends up leaving your mouth the strangest thing happens. It’s almost like the ale literally pulls all the moisture out of your mouth and brings it along with the beer. I’ve had many beers that “dry” out the mouth, but this takes first prize. Something else of note, is that even with the 9% rating, the isn’t a heavy alcohol taste to this brew. In all honesty, this is a good beer that is well made, but I find it too sweet for my own personal tastes and am having a difficult time drinking it. I guess I just need to man up like an ancient Turk. Turk? Is that the right way to say it? Or is that derogatory in some manner? I have no clue.

Now, for an I.P.A. in which Esquire magazine said that it’s “perhaps the best I.P.A. in America.” Coming in at 90 IBUs this beer is potent with hops. This was the first beer in which Dogfish tried the continually-hopped process. Which means they didn’t add hops at a specific point. They added it slowly throughout the entire process. On top of this the also smoked hops in another device to add a dry hop taste to it as well. One of the bonuses from this process is that it becomes a very hoppy beer without becoming an overly bitter beer. Dogfish has also used this process in a 60 minute, 120 minute, and a 75 minute (a cask combining 60 and 90).

Pouring a golden orange I feel like I botched the pouring because I didn’t get much head off the pour. What I did get though was a white, thick head that left islands of foam as it disappeared along with a nice lacing. The aroma is pungent with hops and followed up with pine and citrus, possibly lemon. Huge flavor of hops up front with a mellow peachy flavors midway thru. Then, finishing off nicely with a metallic pine. Very smooth and easy to drink, you’d never know it was 9%.

Well, it’s time to bring you another Dogfish beer. I’ve had this one before and I know it is tasty. So, this shall make up for my slight disappointment with their last beer I tried. This is actually a year round product they sell, so try to keep an eye out for it. The Indian Brown Ale (IBA) is a conglomeration of three different beers. There is the color of an American Brown, the caramel noted of a Scotch Ale, and the hopping style of an IPA. They’ve also treated this beer to a dry-hop session similar to their 60 Minute IPA and 90 Minute IPA. For the individuals that don’t know what this means the brewers actually add dry hops to the beer after the initial fermentation. This adds to the aroma of the beer, which in turn will affect how we taste it. Remember how our sense of smell affects the flavor of everything we eat? Anyways, on to the tasting.

This IBA pours a dark brown with a very light beige head. My nose picks out the scent of dark roast coffee, caramel, and chocolate. The flavor is extremely complex and explosively delicious! It starts out rich and dark, flavors like cocoa, nutty malts, brown sugar, and dark coffee. Then it surprises you with a light tingling sensation on your tongue as the hops hit. Overall I’d say this is a very dark, yet sweet, beer with a hidden slap of hops.

Well, for my 50th post I decided to bring out the big guns and do something I believe special. For the individuals that are not familiar with Dogfish Head, they are truly a remarkable brewery who reach for the heavens and always try for something new. Dogfish brewed Pangaea in honor of when all the continents were connected, before everything started to shift around. To do this honor they collected an ingredient from each continent. Crystallized ginger from Australia, basmati rice from Asia, muscavado sugar from Africa, South American quinoa, European yeast, North American maize (corn) and finally water from Antarctica.

This worldly beer poured out a yellowish amber color with a thick head of white foam. I did notice that the beer was very bubbly, similar to a few Belgium beers I’ve tried, probably to do with the European yeast used. The aroma was heavy with ginger, a moderate amount of yeast, and a touch of what I believe might be honey. Taste wise, very similar to the smell, heavy ginger, yeasty like a Belgium with a slight metallic touch.

I must state that I normally do not like the spice of ginger. In small doses it can be good, but, I’ve yet to have a ginger beer that I’ve liked. I went into this beer with an open mind hoping for a grander taste that would sweep me off my feet. I did not find it. For anyone who likes ginger, TRY this beer. If you don’t like ginger you probably won’t dislike it.